Pemphigoid Gestationis: A Case Report and Review of Literature

Pemphigoid gestationis is a rare autoimmune blistering disease specific to pregnancy. It is characterized by pruritic, urticarial plaques with development of tense vesicles and bullae within the lesions. Recurrence with subsequent pregnancies are often more severe and may be associated with miscarriages, prematurity, low birth weight and rarely fetal death.

We report this case of pemphigoid gestationis in view of the importance of early diagnosis and treatment for prevention of fetal risk. Gestational (pemphigoid gestationis, PG) is an uncommon immune system skin issue that happens amid pregnancy.

It is an uncommon sickness with an occurrence of 1 in 50,000 pregnancies. PG ordinarily shows amid the second or third trimester with repeat in consequent pregnancies. It can be analyzed by histopathology and direct immunofluorescence which is corroborative. Systemic steroids are the backbone of treatment.

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Acardiac Acephalus Fetus Presenting as Obstructed Labour

Mono-amniotic mono-chorionic pregnancies are un-common among twin gestations. Further twin reversed arterial perfusion (TRAP) sequence is extremely rare presentation. Acardiac acephalic fetus resulting as a result of TRAP sequence has an estimated incidence of 1 in 35,000 pregnancies. To the best of our knowledge, no such case has been reported till date which presented as obstructed labour.

We are highlighting this case so as to alert the managing team of obstetricians regarding this rare cause of obstructed labour. Also to increase awareness regarding this presentation presenting in advanced second stage of labour with fetal malpresentation.

Only diagnostic pointer in index case was malformed fetal toes visible at introitus of mother in advanced second stage of labour.

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Would Mothers Expect their Children to Grow up Sweet?

Nowadays, infants and children are growing up in a much sweeter world, with dramatic increases in the added sugar intakes. Sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) are the major liquid source of added sugars in youths’ diet in North America, which comprise regular soft drinks, fruit drinks, coffee/tea, energy and vitamin water drinks that have been sweetened with caloric sweeteners.

Besides, over 60% of daily added sugar intake comes from solid food sources ranged from dairy desserts, grain-based desserts, candies, ready-to-eat cereals, and etc.

Several review articles have summarized the recent evidence of associations between SSB consumption and cardiovascular disease risk factors (adiposity, elevated blood pressure, hyperglycemia, reduced high density lipoprotein cholesterol and hypertriglyceridemia) among both youth and adult population

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Zika Virus Pandemic – Misconceptions and its Implications

The pandemic of Zika virus infection is a formidable threat to the American public health and is the fourth arboviral pandemic arriving to the western hemisphere in the past three decades after Dengue, West Nile virus and Chikungunya. This arbovirus was discovered in Uganda in 1947 in the course of rhesus primate surveillance.

The arbovirus circulated predominantly in wild primates and rarely caused human infections. This makes its explosive pandemic re-emergence as truly fascinating, arriving from Africa to the Western hemisphere. Zika is a threat to our goal of healthy mother-child entity.

Microcephaly not uses causes lifelong disability in the child but wreaks an emotional havoc for the mother. Zika is a predominantly a mild dengue-like disease with some data showing neurological complications. The data from French Polynesia documented a concomitant epidemic of 73 cases of Guillain–Barré syndrome in a population of approximately 270,000, which may represent complications of Zika.

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Thyroid Metastasis from Renal Cell Carcinoma Eight Years after Total Nephrectomy

Localized malignant renal tumors requires a surgical intervention as first line treatment by partial nephrectomy, or if it is not feasible, by radical nephrectomy. The risk for recurrence after surgery is about 30 to 40%, with median delay time of 15 month. Although the first metastatic site is pulmonary, it is not rare to observe some metastasis in other organs such as thyroid.

The renal origin of thyroid metastasis is an important prognostic indicator to consider, because it determines the therapeutic management of a patient. It has been demonstrated that these secondary sites could not be synchronous, and can occur until more than twenty years after the initial nephrectomy.

We report the case of a 70 year old patient followed for asymptomatic multi-nodular goiter diagnosed with a thyroid metastasis of renal carcinoma operated eight years ago.

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The Impact of Birth Preparedness on Pregnancy Outcome

Annual global estimate of 287,000 maternal deaths were recorded in 2010 as a result of complications of pregnancy and childbirth. Sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia accounted for 85% of this burden (245,000 maternal deaths).

Birth preparedness and complication readiness (BP/CR) is a relatively common strategy employed by numerous groups implementing safe motherhood programs. To determine the link between birth preparedness and complication readiness to pregnancy outcomes.

Methods: Health facility based cross-sectional study was used among women in the reproductive age group 15-49 years at 36 weeks and above of gestation who were attending Antenatal care (ANC). The pregnancy outcomes were defined as either favourable or unfavourable events for both mother and baby. A birth preparedness assessment index (BPAI) was developed and used to assess preparedness of respondents.

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The Association between Oxidative Stress and Miscarriages among Omani Females

Spontaneous abortion and the associated factors are considered to be crucial concerns for the researchers and physicians to study. It is stated as the spontaneous loss of a fetus before the 20th week of pregnancy.

A systematic review showed that 30-50% of conceptions end in spontaneous abortion which affect 0.5-3% of women in the reproductive age group. Studies have shown that spontaneous abortions can occur as a consequence of genetic factors, infections, diabetes, hyperprolactinemia, thyroid autoimmunity and oxidative stress.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) is a collective term for oxygen free radicals (i.e., nitric oxide, superoxide) and non-radical oxygen (i.e., hydrogen peroxide, singlet oxygen) compounds which are produced in low concentrations in the body to maintain the normal cellular homeostasis.

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RESPONSE TO HYDROLYSED COLLAGEN PROTEIN SUPPLEMENTATION IN A COHORT OF PREGNANT AND POSTPARTUM WOMEN

There is overwhelming evidence that links maternal nutrition during pregnancy with fetal outcomes. This study evaluated the safety and efficacy of Protiva treatment responses in pre and postpartum female subjects between the ages of 19 years and 43 years who entered into this open label study.

The protocol was designed to take a twice daily collagen protein supplementation drink during the third trimester and for 10 weeks postpartum. The outcomes were measured against a control group of patients who did not take the protein supplementation.

The differences between mean score for the physical health domain of WHOQOL-BREF scale in the Protiva group and the control group were different and met statistical significance (p=0.0003).

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Call to Action: Motivating Moms to Move

The findings published by Flegal and colleagues report a linear increasing trend in overweight and obesity among US women (40%). The recent reported rise in obesity among American women is not only alarming for the many women that will suffer from the adverse health effects brought on by the disease but also for future generations of children that are born to mothers that are overweight or obese.

This worrying trend is not specific to the United States. According to the WHO, approximately 15% of women worldwide are obese and this translates into more women of childbearing age becoming obese. In England, obesity rates among women have steadily risen affecting approximately half of the population of women of childbearing age.

Obesity during pregnancy is related to newborn weight status, which leads to an increased risk of obesity in later years. The adverse health effects from maternal obesity are a serious health concern and a threat to the mother and unborn child.

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Genetic Counselling in a Familial Deletion 18p Syndrome

Deletion of 18p syndrome (del18p), is a chromosomal aberration described by the french geneticist Jean de Grouchy in 1963, known to be compatible with long-term survival. About 1 in 50,000 babies is born with a deletion of 18p and more than one hundred cases have been reported.

Most reports suggest that 18p deletions affect girls more often than boys (female to male ratio is 3:2). Phenotypic manifestations of this deletion are very sparse at birth, but during life may consist in: mental retardation, developmental delay and learning difficulties, growth retardation, craniofacial dysmorphism and abnormalities of the limbs (clinodactyly of the fifth finger), genitalia, brain (for example holoprosencephaly, in 10% of the cases), eyes, and heart.

It seems that beside the typical manifestations of that syndrome, the girl had an abnormality of thyroxine synthesis, most likely a coupling defect. After Jones KL (2006), there is a significant discrepancy between verbal and non-verbal performance, verbal performance being more severely affected.

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The Impact of Short Stature on the Childrens Psychology: An Examination of Child Psychology

Short stature (SS) is defined as height more than two standard deviations below the mean for age and gender. SS could be a result of organic or non-organic causes. Organic causes include: endocrine abnormalities, bone lesions, intrauterine growth retardation, chromosomal abnormalities (Dawn syndrome, Russell-silver syndrome) or other causes. Non-organic causes include: familial short stature, malnutrition, constitutional delay of growth and adolescence.

Around 2% of all children present with SS. Boys tend to come to medical attention more frequently than girls. However, the percentage of girls with organic disease significantly exceeded that of boys. Differences in height were more pronounced around the age of 9 years. Sex was not associated with severity of short stature.

The research on children with SS shows mixed results regarding psychosocial problems. With some studies suggesting that psychosocial problems are related to SS while other studies do not find this relationship.

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Pemphigoid Gestationis: A Case Report and Review of Literature

Pemphigoid gestationis is a rare autoimmune blistering disease specific to pregnancy. It is characterized by pruritic, urticarial plaques with development of tense vesicles and bullae within the lesions.

Recurrence with subsequent pregnancies are often more severe and may be associated with miscarriages, prematurity, low birth weight and rarely fetal death. We report this case of pemphigoid gestationis in view of the importance of early diagnosis and treatment for prevention of fetal risk.

It is an uncommon sickness with an occurrence of 1 in 50,000 pregnancies. PG ordinarily shows amid the second or third trimester with repeat in consequent pregnancies. It can be analyzed by histopathology and direct immunofluorescence which is corroborative. Systemic steroids are the backbone of treatment.

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Clinical Effects of Isoflavones and Berberine (Estromineral Lipid) in Menopausal Women with Borderline Dyslipimia

During the menopause, oestrogen deficiency brings about changes in the lipid profile which increase the cardiovascular (CV) risk. The use of food supplements together with a healthy lifestyle and a varied, balanced diet is a logical approach for improving CV disease prevention.

A combination of nutraceuticals (EL) based on berberine (a natural extract that reduces total cholesterol and triglycerides), soya isoflavones (SI), Lactobacillus sporogenes and vitamin D3 was compared with the same formulation without berberine (E) in menopausal women with borderline dyslipidaemia.

Randomised, controlled, parallel-group multicenter study in menopausal women with Tot-C >200 and <260 mg/dl on a controlled low-fat diet or not on treatment with lipid-lowering agents. The study treatments were: 1 tablet of EL (Estromineral Lipid) or E (Estromineral®) daily by mouth for 3 months. Typical menopausal symptoms, CV and metabolic parameters were evaluated at baseline and at the end of treatment.

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